Ceiling fans are typically installed by removing an existing light fixture and replacing the light fixture with a ceiling fan. Removal of the light fixture reduces the light available in a room. In order to overcome the reduction in light, ceilings fans used to replace light fixtures typically have a light assembly attached thereto, which utilize incandescent or fluorescent light sources.
Known methods of attaching the light assembly to the ceiling fan result in a strobe like effect due to the projection path of the illuminating light and the placement of the light assembly in relation to the circulating fan blades of the ceiling fan. According to know methods, the light source is fixed to the ceiling fan at a location between the fan blades and the floor of the room. The illumination produced by the light assembly radiates in all directions, including upwards. Thus, as the illumination path is intersected by the circulating fan blades, a strobe effect is produced on the ceiling.
Other known methods place the light assembly between the circulation fan blades of the ceiling fan and the ceiling of the room. As discussed above, the illumination generated by the light source radiates in all directions, including downward. Due to the relational placement of the light assembly and the circulating fan blades of the ceiling fan, a strobe effect is created on the floor of the room, as the circulating fan blades intersect the illumination path. Thus, in known methods of attaching light assemblies to ceiling fans, the circulation of the fan blades causes a strobe effect on the floor or the ceiling depending on the location of the light source relative to the fan blades.
Other known methods include, as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,206, the use of neon tubes attached to the perimeter of each of the fan blades. However, the neon tubes rotate with the blades resulting in erratic illumination and light pattern.
Therefore, what is needed is a ceiling fan with a light assembly that sufficiently illuminates a room without producing a strobe effect while the fan blades are rotating.